Education is the key in funding pine beetle fight

Education is the key in funding pine beetle fight

Lawrence County officials were among the dignitaries and
business people on hand Friday who toured one of the cutting areas
on Spearfish Mountain that has been infested by the mountain pine
beetle. Pioneer photo by Sandy Geffre

Education is the key in funding pine beetle fight

A cutting crew stands ready to fell, de-limb and chunk trees
during a media demonstration on Spearfish Mountain on Friday.
Pioneer photo by Sandy Geffre

SPEARFISH— Spearfish Canyon Foundation president Susan Johnson
got the opportunity to see firsthand on Friday how the seed money
donated by the Foundation toward the mountain pine beetle project
is helping in the fight.

Johnson was among a group of dignitaries and local business people
who toured a section of the Spearfish Mountain project to view a
cutting area during a media day event organized by the Lawrence
County Commission. The event was held to help educate the public on
the scope of the mountain pine beetle destruction and the
importance of ongoing funding to continue the fight.

Johnson, who lives at the mouth of Spearfish Canyon and drives past
beetle-infested areas every day, said she was shocked to see the
devastation up close.

“It's one thing to read about the devastation going on in the
forest and to hear that there are 800,000 ponderosa pines already
infested, but it's another thing to see it up close,” she said.
“You see it at a distance, but when you see those bore holes close
up, and the trees are just covered with them, it's shocking.”

Johnson said she was amazed as she watched a cutting crew fell,
de-limb and chunk a half-dozen green-hit trees in a matter of
minutes. She said she was also glad to learn their work since the
first of the year has already made a big impact in slowing the
spread of the pine beetle.

The Spearfish Canyon Foundation made an initial donation of
$135,000 to the Lawrence County Commission to lead the fundraising
campaign that helped bring almost $300,000 in private donations to
help fight the battle.

Johnson said watching the cutting crew in action and standing in
the midst of their recent work affirmed the Foundation's donation
toward the pine beetle fight is money well spent. It also keeps
with the Foundation's mission “to preserve Spearfish Canyon as a
lasting legacy by promoting natural and cultural history,
appreciation of the environment, responsible public access and
funding to enhance the infrastructure and ecology,” she said.

“We were watching our money going directly from the bank to the
chainsaw. That's what I felt the best about,” said Johnson.

Johnson said she listened to forester Bill Coburn warn others of
the impending pine beetle devastation for years while nothing was
done.

“Unfortunately, now that we can see the destruction, it's too
late,” she said.

With continued project funding, however, the county has a chance to
save what remains of the beautiful Black Hills, she said.

Johnson agrees with Coburn's assessment that everyone who lives in
the Black Hills, visits the Black Hills or knows someone who does,
is a stakeholder and needs to take ownership and contribute to the
pine beetle effort.

It is the only way to slow the spread of the mountain pine beetle,
said Coburn.

“We have to figure out how to do this long-term,” Coburn said on
Friday. “Everybody has to contribute.”

Coburn said an estimated 20,000 acres of the Black Hills were
infested from the 2010 mountain pine beetle flight, and emphasized
the rate at which the epidemic continues to grow.

Coburn calculated that 20,000 acres represents 1.5 million infested
trees, based on an estimated 75 green-hit trees per acre. The
“blowup” of beetle-infested trees multiplies that number three-fold
in just one year, he said.

“That means 4.5 million trees were infested in the 2011 flight,”
said Coburn.

Subtracting an estimated 900,000 green-hit trees cut and eliminated
by local sawmills, Lawrence County's current pine beetle project,
US Forest Service timber sales and other entities, the number of
beetle-infested trees that still remain is staggering.

“There are still 3.6 million trees left after we get in there and
cut the trees from last year's flight of beetles,” Coburn
said.

As CEO of Black Hills Central Reservations, an organization that
brings hundreds of thousands of visitors to the area by booking
packages and vacations in the Black Hills, Johnson's concern for
keeping the Black Hills National Forest beautiful is
two-fold.

She said visitors who drive through the Black Hills are saddened at
the sight of brown trees. “When you drive around Mount Rushmore and
see the rusted trees, it's shocking,” said Johnson.

She said the Black Hills can't afford the devastation that has
occurred in Colorado. Johnson said it's heartbreaking to see the
pine beetle devastation that has killed millions of acres of trees
so close by.

“They have lost their battle,” she said. “We all need to do
whatever we can so we don't lose this battle.”

Johnson said she and other foundation board members support the
pine beetle project 100 percent and encourage others to get on
board before it's too late.

“If we can put a halt on this along the Spearfish Canyon National
Scenic Byway, it's as important of an investment as we can make,”
she said.

Johnson noted the photos on the foundation's website,
www.spearfishcanyon.com that show the pine beetle destruction on
Custer Peak, and in comparison, a mostly green Spearfish Mountain
with only a handful of brown patches.

While it's too late to save the brown trees on Spearfish Mountain,
Johnson said cutting the more than 4,000 green-hit beetle infested
trees already will go a long way toward preventing the spread of
dead trees.

A 25-man reconnaissance crew has identified and marked nearly
100,000 green-hit trees throughout Lawrence County. An estimated
35,000 acres still remain to be marked.

Since Jan. 15, crews have cut more than 4,000 trees in the
Spearfish Mountain Project area to allow the trees to dry out and
kill the beetles inside before they start flying again this
summer.

Former Lawrence County commissioners George Opitz and Jim Seward
were among those who attended Friday's event. They praised the
county for reaching an agreement with the Forest Service, and the
progress that has already been made to slow the pine beetle
destruction.

“I'm real glad to see that Lawrence County is taking the initiative
to save what they can,” said Seward. “I'm pretty proud of that
commission for what they're doing.”

Work on Spearfish Mountain was completed on Monday. Crews will
begin work in Spearfish Canyon on Tuesday.